Rev. Matthew Luczycki of St. Joseph's in Oneida finds joy in helping others

Photo by JOHN HAEGER
The Rev. Msgr. Matthew Luczycki poses in St Joseph's Church in Oneida on Dec. 23, 2010.

ONEIDA -- For the past 65 years, the Rev. Matthew Luczycki, senior priest in residence at St. Joseph's Church in Oneida has been directly impacting the lives of other people.

And it's those very people who have kept him going through the years.

At a recent Mass, Luczycki reconnected with a couple he married more than 55 years ago.

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He has renewed the wedding vows for other couples he married decades ago adding that having that type of impact is special to him.

"It is something you really cannot do in many other professions," he said.

Luczycki, 90, said he does not feel his age but instead feels 39 years old with 51 years of experience.

He thought about other professions, but felt a calling to the priesthood.

"It seems like I always wanted to be a priest," he said. "That was my main desire. I considered other possibilities but the priesthood always won out."

He attended St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry before being ordained on Dec. 22, 1945.

Over the years, he served as priest for two churches in Utica, two in Syracuse and one in Oriskany Falls before coming to St. Joseph's on July 1, 1989.

"After being a priest for several years and having many responsibilities as an administrator, I was relieved of that duty and could spend most of my time just doing priestly work," he said. "Besides preaching and saying mass here, I volunteered as chaplain at Madison County Jail for 16 years. They needed counseling and spiritual direction."

Highlights of his career include being named monsignor in 1972 and meeting Pope John Paul II twice in Vatican City, Italy.

"I saw him many times at a distance but twice face to face and having a conversation," he said. "I concelebrated mass with him. That was one of the highlights."

His first meeting with the pope was with a group of eight priests from Rochester and Syracuse. "He spoke to us individually," Luczycki recalled. He said the pope also spoke with them after Mass. "He was a remarkable man. When you had a conversation with him, he paid whole-hearted attention to what you were saying as if you were the only person in the world."

The basic elements his duties as a priest have not changed much over the years.

"You offer the sacrifice at Mass," Luczycki said. "You preach, you teach and you counsel."

He noted that some things have changed within the church. Priests no longer speak Latin for the whole Mass, he said, adding that this change makes the Mass more accessible to a wider audience.

Another change has been the shift in the growth of churches in the country.

Luczycki said the trend has been the building of new churches in the south and southwestern U.S. as churches in the north have been closing down.

He said he hopes to see St. Joseph's continue to grow.

"It's a wonderful parish and we have perpetual admiration at the chapel, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.

He said he enjoys "being close to the people. There's such a hunger for spirituality in the world."

"We all have a desire to be with God and God has a desire to be with us," he said. "It's part of our human nature. Sometimes it's overshadowed by worldly concerns."